Two bits of games-academia news today, which help to chip away at my preconception that game design courses are as useful as media studies degrees in landing a job.
First up, Joystiq reports that my almost-alma mater University of California at Santa Cruz (chose Oberlin College instead) has announced that they will offer a game design degree at the insitution from next autumn. While this isn't unusual or in any way novel,what's exciting is that they've recruited an innovator in the game design sphere to helm the degree - Façade creator Michael Mateas.
Mateas and Andrew Stern created the fascinating artificial intelligence experiment and released it independently last year. It boasts very simple graphics but a hugely engaging, deep and intricate plot. From Wikipedia:
The game/play is celebrated for its ability to provide a close simulation of human interaction, albeit with flat-shaded 3D graphics and sound quality clips that are obviously re-used to save file space. The game is noted because the progression of conversation between the two characters Grace and Trip is rarely entirely the same, although it does cover the same major themes of dispassion, art and marriage. The player can take an active role in the conversation, pushing the topic one way or another to provide an interactive stage-play.
The second piece of news which caught my attention was the announcement that Pac Man creator Toru Iwatani is standing down from his executive role at Namco to teach students game design at University level. From Joystiq's coverage:
Although he expressed a desire to keep making games, he felt the need to teach development methods and communication skills for the betterment of the industry.
So with these worldly wise industry types trading desk jobs for tweed jackets with corduroy elbow patches, is there hope for design degrees, or should would-be industry design professionals be better off getting degrees in other subjects?
